Sukhothai, Thailand: The Beginning of a Beautiful Culture

We haven’t had any luck with buses here in Thailand. The bus to Sukhothai was by far the worst experience we have had on this adventure. We had bought tickets for a VIP bus (a little bit more comfortable with fewer stops) and the ride was supposed to be about 7 hours. We were to arrive around 20:00, just in time to check in before the front desk at our accommodation was closed. The bus was late getting to the station and 35 minutes late leaving. It was also not the VIP bus we booked. There was a lot going on and the bus attendant was taxed with giving every passenger that booked the VIP bus some money back and a new ticket, which was all in Thai. There wasn’t a bit of effort to try and communicate to us what was happening or why we were getting any money back. Since we cannot read Thai, we just assumed it was the bus type change and let it be. The bus ride was very uncomfortable and the restroom was completely unusable, but Lady Gaga got me through until we were still on the road, well past 20:00. We made stops at more than 10 other places, including 2 bus stations that were an hour in the opposite direction from our bus stop. When we started going in the opposite direction of our stop in the middle of nowhere we started to panic a bit. There were only 2 other falangs (foreigners) on the bus, a mother and daughter from Germany. This was their first time in Thailand and they were quite nervous as well. As luck would have it, we were heading to the same place and decided to stick together. 

The Germans were both beautiful and sweet! Crazy enough, the daughter Sara, went to Midlothian High School in Texas, where I lived for a while, under a foreign exchange program. SMALL WORLD! So we were instantly bonded. Around 22:00 we were herded like cattle off of the bus at a station that was not where we were supposed to be getting off. The bus attendant literally smacked me in the arm and motioned for us to get off and change to a different bus. I started to break down and lose it. I was cussing up a storm and I made sure to check that our bags were moved to our new bus. There was no way to stop and figure out what was happening, so like cattle we moved. The few locals that were headed to Sukhothai with us seemed just as frustrated. I never had to pee so bad in my life. I sobbed and sobbed in my mask in the dark bus. In those last 50 minutes I hated all my decisions and I missed my furbabies. I pictured their faces and I beat myself up with every mean word I knew for letting go of a perfectly good life so willingly. To come to a place where I’m surrounded by people who stare at me constantly and submerged in a language I cannot truly understand or even begin to read. I was so mad at myself for wanting this. I was completely lost in my own self pity and homesickness. And because I was so exhausted, I had no mental strength to fight my anxiety. 

Our stop was the last, of course, and the four of us walked in the rain together to our place. Thankfully they had staff that stayed onsite and after waking someone up, we were able to get into our rooms. We went to bed without dinner and slept hard. We stayed at Thai Thai Sukhothai Resort and it was a gorgeous place with dreamy little bungalows. It was like walking around in a historical Thai neighborhood. Sukhothai is a very special place. It was the first capital of Siam and the birthplace of Thai civilization, language, and art. It is very rural and home to some of the oldest temples and ruins in Thailand. It’s a place where walking is not the best option and most tourists bike around to visit the temples. I had not been on a bicycle since I was a little girl so I was very excited. I had a blast just biking around the beautiful countryside, laughing like a 6 year old! The weather was perfect, and we had a lovely breeze for most of the week. Our first stop was the Sukhothai Historical park where there is a large cluster of temples and ruins close to where we stayed. 

It was absolutely stunning and we had it all to ourselves. A precious treasure. Normally, the place would be crawling with tourists and you could never get a picture of the ruins alone in their majesty. Most of these temples are between 700-800 years old. So regal, standing the tests of time and maintained by the people of Sukhothai. I cannot describe with words the feeling I got when I stepped through Wat Si Sawai. It’s a temple with 3 pillars imitating Hindu Shikara Vimanas and was a site for Hinduism before it was transitioned to a Buddhist temple. Both Buddhism and Hinduism mesh throughout southeast Asian history and it’s an alluring combination. There’s a sensational echo in the walls that enclose the pillars and you are left in awe by the intricate detail of the carvings all the way up to the tops of the pillars. I had chills in the Thai sun.

We visited as many sites as we were physically able within the Historical Park and it was some of my most favorite times in all my Thailand travels. We were wonderfully exhausted by the late afternoon and were so enamored by the beauty of the day that we nearly skipped lunch! Refueled by a delicious and traditional Sukhothai noodle soup lunch, we went back to it to explore some more. We also had to see the giant seated Buddha at Wat Si Chum. All I can say is, spectacular! It is the most impressive Buddha statue in all of Thailand. The Buddha is seated portraying a subduing Mara Mudra (Bhumisparsha Mudra) which represents strength and grounding and is the most commonly depicted Mudra. Gorgeous in white stucco and gold leaf flakes, he sits 49 ft or 15 meters high. An absolutely remarkable sight. 

The clouds were beginning to darken and it looked as though it might rain, so we peddled hard to our bungalow and showered off the sweat of the day. We had dinner at an adorable local restaurant called Sureerat and as fate would have it, I was immediately surrounded by a mother cat and her 3 beautiful kittens. On the walk to dinner I had been talking about our babies and how much I miss them. How much I miss that comfort. My friends and family send me pictures all the time and it keeps me going, along with the fur babies I meet here who allow me to love on them. The Sukhothai cats chose me that night and I took it as a gift. I didn’t offer them food and there were other patrons dining who did. They wanted my love and my lap and I embraced it. It seems that every time this nomadic lifestyle throws me a curve ball, I still end up getting lucky and hit a home run. The day was everything I needed it to be after such a big breakdown. Those cats told me to keep my chin up and my heart open…in their own way. I should also thank my darling husband here as well. We stayed up for hours that night talking about all the things we were both feeling and going through and it was vital. Sometimes it’s scary to admit that you have had a lapse in bravery or are questioning things because your anxiety has a hold of you and you feel like you aren’t strong enough to overcome it. Bradley is my pillar of wisdom and peace. He’s always been that person that I could talk to about anything and never feel judged. When he speaks, it always enlightens and never hurts. It was a relief to know that he has his own anxieties, even when he seems to be the calmest soul in the room. For him I am the most thankful.

We visited the Ramkhamhaeng National Museum and soaked up all the rich history our nerd hearts could handle. It was really neat learning about how pottery was made, how the Sukhothai people lived, and what they have done to restore and preserve their beautiful city and it’s monuments over the centuries. We ate more delicious traditional Sukhothai dishes and we even had a rough dinner experience as well. It involved some very bland food, saucy spare ribs, and a white button up. I’ll have you know, the white button up survived thanks to my skills. The next day was Thanksgiving for us and my first holiday away from home. It was a great day and we decided to bike to the ruins that are much farther out from where we stay. It kicked my ass! The whole ride was uphill and we hiked up to most of those ruins. A day for the legs. We gave our thanks at a gorgeous standing Buddha depicting an Abhaya Mudra which represents fearlessness and nearly ate an entire bunch of bananas between us. We also found what both Brad and I are going to believe is an ancient piece of pottery in the stones and pebbles surrounding one of the ruins. While it may not really be hundreds of years old, it looked like traditional Sukhothai pottery design and it was the only piece of its kind there among the ruins.

Biking downhill in the glorious breeze and sunshine was lovely but my legs were still burning. We decided to have some Thai tea and a swim before dinner. It was refreshing after the sweaty day and I was not expecting what happened next. 

I got out of the shower after our swim to find my hair turned green. GREEN. In all the years I have had blonde in my hair and swam in many pools, my hair has never turned green. The only way I can describe my feelings about my hair is to quote a song, “I am my hair.” I was devastated and I felt like I looked like a clown. I wasn’t even light hearted enough to be thankful that I had just gone dark prior to flying here so that my roots wouldn’t show as they grew out. Only one woman touches my hair and I wanted it to last as long as possible while we are backpacking. I tried hard to wash it out with shampoo again and I looked up anything I could do to get this green out of my hair. Inconveniently, we were leaving the next morning so there wasn’t much I could do for the night. I would have to wait until we got to Chiang Mai to start the tedious process. Another curve ball that got me down a bit, but I stayed strong and far far away from mirrors until I could get to a grocery store. Once we got to Chiang Mai it took an entire bag of baking soda, 3 bottles of tomato juice, and the help of a good man. 3 days later my hair was no longer tinted with green. My hair was not the same as before because the stripping took its toll on the darker colors, but I was okay with the turnout.

Sukhothai was such a lovely place and I cannot wait to go back again. I could see the whole city 10 times over and still be in awe. I just know it in my soul. I learned so much in those 4 days, both spiritually and historically. It will stay close to my heart for as long as I live. 

If you would like to see more pictures of this historical city, feel free to visit my Facebook Page and let me know what your favorite photos are!